Machine for setting snap-fastener studs.



A. H. GRBENEBAUM. MACHINE FOB'SETTLNG SNAP PASTENER STUDS. APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 25, 1911.

1,004,018. Patented Sept.26,1911.

' "'IIIIIIIW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

ABRAHAM H. GREENEBAUM, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO ALMA MANU- FACTURING COMPANY OF BALTIMORE CITY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A COB- PORATION OF MARYLAND.

MACHINE FOR SETTING SNAP-FASTENER STUDS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABRAHAM H. GREENE- BAUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Machines for Setting Snap- Fastener Studs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive and durable mecha nism for readily assembling the parts of screw studs, of thetype which may be detached from an article and replaced as desired.

By the term screw stud, I mean the stud, head, or button member of a snap fastener wherein the head proper and its cap or means for setting it upon an article are connected by a screwthreaded connection;

and the special screw stud for which this machine was primarily designed, consists of a head of the bird-cage spring variety but containing a hubbed nut and a complemental cap piece carrying a screw onto which the head is screwed by the mechanism of this invention, and .from which it may be unscrewed, the goods being clamped between the head and cap.

In a prior construction of such screw studs, of the bird-cage spring variety, a flat wrench is provided which has a hole with internally projecting teeth that enter the spaces between the arms of the spring and engage the arms of the spring laterally, near their bases, but I have found that such a Wrench is very apt to distort the spring, especially if any considerable pressure is put upon the wrench. In order to overcome this objection and others, the present invention provides a socket wrench which engages the whole head and has internal projections adapted to enter the spaces between the arms from above and throughout their entire length, the socket and its teeth being shaped accurately to the head, and the socket inclosing the head, so that the pressure of the internal projections is not exerted upon any one circumscribed portion of the arms, but is distributed substantially throughout the length of the arms, from top to bottom, and the arms themselves are held against lateral or other distortion or displacement. In other words, while in the prior wrench Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 25, 1911.

Patented Sept. 26, 1911.

Serial No. 610,949.

the strain was lateral, and on a part only of the head, in the present invention it is both lateral and axial, while the whole of the spring portion of the head is inclosed and subjected to pressure throughout its height and width.

The invention consists in a socket wrench having a socket shaped to conform to the stud head and having internal projections adapted to enter the spaces between the arms of the spring and of substantially equal length to the exposed portions of such spaces and arms; a spindle with a quickpitch spiral groove so engaged in a stationary support or frame as to cause the spindle to turn axially and rise and fall in so doing, the socket wrench being mounted on the lower end of this spindle, so that the stud head may be placed in the socket with the screw cap started in it and then'by upward pressure upon the cap the spindle is caused to rotate and rise and in so doing to screw the stud head upon the screw cap and so assemble the parts upon an article.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in the several figures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine, broken out to show the means for imparting rotary motion to the spindle, and also broken out to show a mode of connecting the wrench to the spindle to rotate with it, and also broken out at the junction of the counterweight and spindle. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the. socket wrench detached and on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a partial longitudinal section of the lower part of the wrench. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with a partly sectional view of the screw stud in place to be set. Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the screw stud head. Fig. 6 is an elevation and Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of the hand wrench.

The invent-ion contemplates a machine wrench for use in a garment or other factory where goods containing the screw studs are made and the studs applied to the goods. The wrench feature itself may be embodied in or employed as a hand tool for use in stores where the goods are sold and by which the salesman may re-set the studs to suit customers.

In the machine wrench, there is a gooseneck frame 1, having a base 2, whereby it may be fixed to a bench or table. In the overhanging end 3 is a straight bearing 4 for the spindle 5. This spindle has a quick pitch spiral groove 6 in it, which is engaged by a ball 7 arranged in a socket 8 in the arm 9 of the frame, and this ball is held in place and in engagement with the groove in the spindle by an adjusting screw 10 set in the socket 8, so that as the spindle is moved longitudinally it is given a rotary motion. A counterweight 11 is applied to the upper end of the spindle, and it is of sufficient weight to overcome the resistance of the ball in the groove and cause the spindle to descend after being forcibly elevated.

On the lower end of the spindle the wrench 12 is applied, as by a cross-pin 13 extending through the wrench and spindle, the wrench having a socket 14 in its top to receive the lower end of the spindle. Of course, the invention is not limited to this mode of applying the wrench to the spindle, but any such connection should insure the rotation of the wrench with the spindle. The wrench has in its lower end a socket 15 of the external contour of the head of the resilient stud, and a series of inwardly extending radially arranged projections 16, which start at the mouth of the socket and there have their greatest dimensions and taper thence upwardly into the socket and run out to nothing near the top of the socket. These projections taper slightly in cross-section and are designed to fit more or less snugly in and throughout the entire length of the spaces 17 between the arms 18 of the spring stud.

As shown in Fig. 4, these projections in the wrench extend the full length of the exposed spaces between the arms, and conse quently, they extend the full length of the exposed portions of the arms; and inasmuch as they are adapted to fit more or less accurately between the arms, and inasmuch as the socket itself conforms in contour to the contour of the spring head, it follows that the strains put upon the spring head by the turning of the wrench are distributed throughout the arms both longitudinally or in the direction of the axis, and laterally, and consequently there is no tendency to distort the arms, and any such tendency would be resisted or counteracted by reason of the fact that each space is occupied by a projection in the wrench which substantially fills it and is coextensive with the length of the exposed portion of the arm.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the spring stud for which the wrench of this invention has been especially designed, has not only the spring head 19, but the base flange 20 and the hubbed nut 21. The complemental cap member has the cap proper 22, the back 23 recessed substantially as shown by the dotted lines 24 in Fig. 4, and the outwardly extending screw 25. NVhen the stud is to be applied to goods, the screw is stuck through the goods, represented by 26, so as to project through to the other side, and then the head is started on the screw and then the spring of the head is inserted in the socket in the wrench so that the projections in the wrench engage the spaces between the arms of the spring, and then by an upward push or pressure upon the cap the spindle is caused to revolve and in doing so to screw the head upon the screw of the cap, until the hubbed nut 21 draws the goods down into the countersink 24 in the cap and grip the goods between them. The head is then removed from the wrench, and upward pressure being released the counterweight 11 will cause the spindle to revolve in the opposite direction and descend, ready to receive and screw on the next head. Obviously the heads may be unscrewed from the caps by raising the spindle and then applying the head to the socket and forcibly rotating the spindle so as to cause it to descend. As al ready stated, it is designed to furnish storekeepers with a wrench by which studs of this character set on goods may be detached and reset by the salesman, and such a utilization of this element of the invention is shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the wrench being in all respects identical with that just described, excepting that it has a closed end 27 opposite the studengaging socket end 28, and an intermediate knurled finger-hold 29. The construction of the wrench and socket in this hand tool is precisely the same as that of the machine tool. Indeed the machine tool itself might be used by hand if detached from the spindle.

The number of turns in the spiral groove throughout its length is equal to the number of turns required to securely screw the nut upon the screw, with a slight allowance for any variation which may exist, due either to the thickness of the material of the goods or the length of the threaded portion of the The invention is susceptible of a variety of modifications within the scope of the claims following, and its principle is applicable to studs of various constructions of heads.

What I claimv is 1.. A wrench for use in connecting the head and cap parts of detachable screw studs of the birdcage spring variety, the same having a socket conforming substantially in size and outline to the exposed spring por- 1 tion of the head of the stud to be operated upon, and having internal radial projections equal in number to the spaces between the arms of the spring and which start at the mouth of the socket and there have their greatest dimensions and taper thence inwardly and run out to nothing near the top of the socket and taper in cross-section to fit in said spaces and engage the arms throughout the length of their exposed por-. tions, combined with a spindle, a stationary support for the spindle, and means to cause said spindle to rotate as it is moved longitudinally upward by upward pressure upon the work, the spindle returning by gravity for the next operation.

2. A machine for setting snap fastener screw studs of the bird-cage spring variety, comprising an upright stationary frame, a spindle mounted in said frame and having an upward longitudinal movement in the frame, said spindle being provided with a quick pitch spiral groove, means on the frame to engage said groove to rotate said spindle as it is moved in the direction of its length, and a wrench applied to said spindle and movable with it in its longitudinal and rotating motions and provided with a socket adapted to engage the spring head of a stud and screw it onto its cap, the stated screwing motion being efi'ected by upward pressure by the operator on the cap on the goods while the stud is engaged by the socket of the wrench, the spindle returning by gravity for the next operation.

3. A machine for setting snap fastener screw studs of the bird-cage spring variety, comprising an upright stationary frame, a spindle mounted in said frame and having an upward longitudinal movement in the frame, said spindle being provided with a quick pitch spiral groove, means on the frame to engage said groove to rotate said spindle as it is moved in the direction of its length, and a wrench applied to said spindle and movable with it in its longitudinal and rotating motions and provided with a socket adapted to engage the spring head of a stud and screw it onto its cap, the stated screwing motion being effected by upward pressure by the operator on the cap on the goods while the stud is engaged by the socket of the wrench, and a counterweight on said spindle to effect the return stroke of the spindle.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this th day of February A. D.

ABRAHAM H. GREENEBAUM. Witnesses:

WM. H. Fmoxnn, J AS. H. BLACKWOOD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0." 

